The present invention relates to a delamination apparatus and method, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for delaminating a composite sheet structure comprising a plurality of selectively releasable superposed sheets. Delamination in the sense used in the present invention is to be understood as meaning a process for separating a peel sheet from a substrate joined by a multicomponent image forming and adhesive intermediate layer. The substrate has a frangible score line forming a tab attached to the peel sheet.
There are a number of known systems for the separating layers of laminated film for rendering a developed image visible. Such systems are commonly used in connection with so-called peel apart film units. Some systems use a blade insertable between two layers of film fixed to the periphery of a rotating drum. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,085. U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,584 discloses an arrangement for delaminating a laminate wherein the direction of travel of the laminate is reversed to break a frangible layer.
In general, prior systems may be characterized as providing peeling action, for instance, removal of one layer from the other. Such apparatus and methods, however, while effective under certain conditions have shortcomings which the present invention seeks to obviate. For example, the film or laminate may become scratched or damaged during the peeling and handling process. Many known systems involve mechanisms which require complex motions and thus suffer from certain inefficiencies in the materials handling aspects of this technology. Also, some of the known systems employ arrangements where the film laminate encounters a hard stop or an abutment which may cause a shock induced premature or uncontrolled delamination. As a result, undesirable visual artifacts may appear in the image area.